Winter Chickpea Salad

Winter Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas! Do you eat them? Do you love them? They are almost a staple in our house! My husband buys them by the case (12 tins) or two or three!!! We have dried chickpeas too but it’s so easy to just open a tin and eat them straight out of the… pop them in a pan with some spice. 🙂 Sometimes, we eat chickpeas for breakfast! That’s hubbies recipe from home and he scoops them up with flat bread while I just eat them with a spoon! 😛 To us, chickpeas are a kind of cheating meal as they’re so easy! If I have someone unexpectedly for lunch, I might make something like chickpeas with chard or spinach, or these quick tomato based chickpeas. Of course we also use chickpeas to make houmous and falafel (hubby made falafel last night)! 😀

If you’ve been following my blog for a while (or if you’re friends or family), you might know that although I follow a plant based diet, my boys can’t go without meat! That means that cooking dinner is always a busy affair with pots and pans everywhere cooking something to please everyone! However!!! 😛 One of my good friends @mamalogical decided to do Veganuary this year with her husband! Our hubbies are friends and my hubby was horrified at the thought of no meat! I mean, what would he eat?!?!? 😛 You know, this is now the start of my fourth year (since January 2015) following a plant based diet and obviously I’ve eaten nothing since then! 😛 😛 😛 Of course, I don’t have a blog full of recipes including cake and biscuits so he would obviously die if he was one of the 100,000 plus taking part in Veganuary like his friend! For those of you who have been doing Veganuary, I hope it went well and I hope you will continue to eat a bit less meat than before!? 😀

eatdrinkbetter.com

eatdrinkbetter.com

There’s a LOT to eat on a plant based diet (vegan or vegetarian) and… I’m so so so happy that although hubby didn’t choose to do Veganuary, the only time he’s had meat so far this year was when his family came for lunch!!! Seriously! 😀 (If any of you are reading this, then do you remember your promise 😛 if he is vegetarian you’ll all be vegan 😛 )! 😀 Yes, he’s had eggs and cheese and yogurt (although he’s taken a liking to my coconut yogurt) but he didn’t even have meat when we went to a burger restaurant! 😀 You can’t imagine how much I’m grinning writing this! 😛 Better still, although I don’t think he’s realised yet, he’s spent less time feeling tired, lethargic and headachy woohoo! 🙂

Back to the recipe? 🙂

winter salad (3)

Anyway, you can’t possibly imagine how nice it is after all these years to finally all be eating the same food all most of the time (I’m not eating his traditional Shalgham a.k.a. turnip soaked in molasses)! This recipe is very simple and was actually sent in a delivered (UK) recipe box from Mindful Chef we thought we’d try out. The concept is great, you pick which meals you want to eat (2-4 per week) and for how many people and they deliver it, all portioned out with instructions (they have meat & fish options too). What’s extra special about this particular company is that for every meal purchased, they donate a school lunch to a child living in poverty through their partner charity One Feeds Two! 😀 😀 😀 We’re on week three now and we’ve enjoyed everything so far and tried not to tweak too much! They are a relatively new company and still have things to learn, but for quick (most meals take 30 minutes or less), faff free, tasty meals for when you’re short of time, I would recommend it! (If you’re in the UK and want to try it, email me as I have a code for £20 off)! 😀

Oh yes, and hubby is eating all these meals and enjoying them!!! 😀 😀 😀 He’s even taken a liking to tofu and jackfruit!!! Woohoo!

I’m taking this colourful flavoursome dish over to Angie’s Fiesta Friday this week where I’m co-hosting along with the talented Monika @ Everyday Healthy Recipes . Why don’t you come over and join us, have a hop around, grab some new ideas and meet new friends (& say hello to old ones)! Better still… share your latest creations with us by linking up to all three of us (my link is Laurena@LifeDietHealth) for a chance to be featured next week. 😀 It’s the best weekend blog party on here  and it goes on until Tuesday! See you there! 😀 😀 😀

Winter Chickpea Salad (Vegan & Free-From)

  • Servings: 1-2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Gather

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • oil of choice (I used olive oil)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas drained
  • 1 tablespoon za’atar
  • bunch of purple sprouting broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 lemon juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons pistachios
  • 1 pomegranate peeled and separated
  • small handful fresh mint leaves roughly torn

Prepare

  1. Wash the squash, cut into quarters then cut into slices just under 1cm thick. Put on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake at Gas mark 6 (400f / 200c) for 25 minutes, turning over halfway.
  2. Pour the chickpeas onto another baking tray, add a splash of oil, season with salt and add the za’atar. Gently mix together and push to one side of the tray.
  3. Trim the broccoli and place next to the chickpeas, add a teaspoon of oil and massage in, then season with salt. Bake for 15 minutes (under the squash).
  4. Mix the tahini with the maple syrup and lemon juice, add a splash of water if it’s too thick. you should have a drizzling consistency.
  5. Dry fry the pistachios for about thirty seconds, then roughly chop.
  6. Place the squash on a plate, add chickpeas and broccoli, drizzle with the sauce, scatter over a handful of pomegranate seeds and a sprinkling of pistachios. Finish with the mint leaves.
  7. Enjoy!

Tips & Storage

  • If pomegranate isn’t your thing, just leave it off and eat it for dessert!
  • You can add the pistachios without cooking but they’re tastier warmed.
  • Try with pine nuts or hazelnuts instead.
  • If you don’t have za’atar use a teaspoon of sesame seeds, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon sumac (if you have it).
  • Use regular broccoli and slice the florets in half if you don’t have any sprouting.
  • This can be stored in the fridge for a day but I’d try and eat it all fresh!

winter salad (1)

10 Comments

  • More Ideas for Using my Chickpeas – HealthNuts.club 1st February 2018 at 12:18

    […] via Winter Chickpea Salad — Life Diet Health […]

    Reply
  • Monika 3rd February 2018 at 09:25

    This salad looks beautiful! I am not a vegan or even vegetarian but I really enjoy plant foods and only eat meat occasionally. Happy Fiesta Friday:)

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 3rd February 2018 at 13:17

      Thanks Monika. Great to hear that you enjoy plant foods ☺??Hope you find time to make this salad sometime! Lovely to co-host Fiesta Friday with you this week, so many new ideas! ☺

      Reply
      • Monika 3rd February 2018 at 13:57

        Likewise, Laurena, enjoy the rest of your weekend:)

        Reply
  • Jhuls 3rd February 2018 at 16:19

    And those are so many choices, Laurena! I love chickpeas, too, especially hummus – yum!? This salad looks like a perfect meal if you are trying to look for a lighter, yet satisfying meal! Thanks for co-hosting this week’s FF and have a fab weekend!

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 3rd February 2018 at 17:35

      Awww thanks Jhuls, can you have too many chickpeas??? Ooo I wonder if i could use your calamansi sauce recipe for chickpeas… ?

      Reply
  • Sheryl 5th February 2018 at 04:13

    The pie charts are so much fun! As someone who often makes pie charts, they made me smile. The chickpea salad looks wonderful.

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 5th February 2018 at 09:36

      Thank you so much Sheryl☺ and thanks for visiting ☺I actually can’t believe how much more variety I have since following a plant based diet! ?So many foods I never knew existed! I’m guessing I should check out your blog a bit more as I’m sure you must have come across some naturally vegan recipes from 100 years ago… I’m thinking chocolate potato cake? Or chocolate beetroot cake?? I love that you tried mashed rutabaga- isn’t it great! Try it mixed with potato, sweet potato and carrot too! So good!

      Reply
  • Agness of Run Agness Run 7th February 2018 at 12:50

    This is the perfect salad for the cold winter days. I love chickpeas, especially in salads. Thanks for the intriguing recipe which I will definitely prepare. Can I use agave syrup instead of maple syrup?

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 7th February 2018 at 12:56

      Hello Agness, thank you! 🙂 Yes, you can use agave syrup if that is your preferred sweetener, the taste will change slightly but it will still be delicious! Let me know what you think!

      Reply

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